Traveling control apparatus

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-124944 filed on Aug. 4, 2022, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The disclosure relates to a traveling control apparatus. Recently, a driving assistance system that assists a driving operation of a driver who drives a vehicle, such as an automobile, has been put to practical use and has been widespread. Such a driving assistance system helps to allow for safe traveling of the vehicle while reducing a load on a vehicle operation performed by the driver of the vehicle.

This kind of driving assistance system has been advancing. For example, a driving assistance system that performs driving assistance while suppressing a strange feeling given to a driver in accordance with a driving characteristic of the driver has appeared. For example, reference is made to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2011-162075.

An aspect of the disclosure provides a traveling control apparatus to be applied to a first vehicle. The traveling control apparatus is configured to execute a traveling control at an intersection at which the first vehicle is to turn right. The traveling control apparatus includes an obstacle detector, a first street parking determination processor, a first target lateral position determination processor, a second street parking determination processor, a second target lateral position determination processor, and a traveling control processor. The obstacle detector is configured to detect whether an obstacle is present in a region that is before the intersection and is on a right-front side relative to the first vehicle. The first street parking determination processor is configured to, when the obstacle is detected, perform a determination as to whether the obstacle is a second vehicle that is street-parked. The first target lateral position determination processor is configured to, when the obstacle is the second vehicle having a high possibility of being street-parked based on a result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processor, perform a determination of a first target lateral position of the first vehicle at a time when the first vehicle passes the second vehicle. The second street parking determination processor is configured to perform, after the first vehicle starts passing traveling, a determination as to whether the obstacle is the second vehicle that is street-parked. The second target lateral position determination processor is configured to, when the obstacle is the second vehicle that is street-parked based on a result of the determination performed by the second street parking determination processor, perform a determination of a second target lateral position of the first vehicle at the time when the first vehicle passes the second vehicle. The traveling control processor is configured to execute the traveling control based on one or both of a result of the determination performed by the first target lateral position determination processor and a result of the determination performed by the second target lateral position determination processor. The traveling control includes a passing traveling control on the first vehicle, a straight traveling control on the first vehicle, a turn-right traveling control on the first vehicle, and an inter-vehicle distance control on the first vehicle. The passing traveling control is a control of the passing traveling.

An aspect of the disclosure provides a traveling control apparatus to be applied to a first vehicle. The traveling control apparatus is configured to execute a traveling control at an intersection at which the first vehicle is to turn right. The traveling control apparatus includes an obstacle detector and circuitry. The obstacle detector is configured to detect whether an obstacle is present in a region that is before the intersection and is on a right-front side relative to the first vehicle. The circuitry is configured to, when the obstacle is detected, perform a first determination as to whether the obstacle is a second vehicle that is street-parked. The circuitry is configured to, when the obstacle is the second vehicle having a high possibility of being street-parked based on a result of the first determination, perform a determination of a first target lateral position of the first vehicle at a time when the first vehicle passes the second vehicle. The circuitry is configured to, after the first vehicle starts passing traveling, perform a second determination as to whether the obstacle is the second vehicle that is street-parked. The circuitry is configured to, when the obstacle is the second vehicle that is street-parked based on a result of the second determination, perform a determination of a second target lateral position of the first vehicle at the time when the first vehicle passes the second vehicle. The circuitry is configured to execute the traveling control based on one or both of a result of the determination of the first target lateral position and a result of the determination of the second target lateral position. The traveling control includes a passing traveling control on the first vehicle, a straight traveling control on the first vehicle, a turn-right traveling control on the first vehicle, and an inter-vehicle distance control on the first vehicle. The passing traveling control is a control of the passing traveling.

An advanced driving assistance system such as that disclosed in JP-A No. 2011-162075 still has the following issue. When a vehicle having a possibility of being street-parked is present before an intersection at which a subject vehicle is to turn left, the driving assistance system simply stops the subject vehicle by an adaptive cruise control (ACC), and may not be able to assist the subject vehicle to travel to its destination.

It is desirable to provide a traveling control apparatus that, even when a vehicle having a possibility of being street-parked is present before an intersection at which a subject vehicle is to turn left, allows the subject vehicle to travel through a narrow path before the intersection in accordance with a width of a traveling path on which the subject vehicle is to travel, and executes traveling assistance to a destination.

In the following, some example embodiments of the disclosure are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following description is directed to illustrative examples of the disclosure and not to be construed as limiting to the disclosure. Factors including, without limitation, numerical values, shapes, materials, components, positions of the components, and how the components are coupled to each other are illustrative only and not to be construed as limiting to the disclosure. Further, elements in the following example embodiments which are not recited in a most-generic independent claim of the disclosure are optional and may be provided on an as-needed basis. The drawings are schematic and are not intended to be drawn to scale. Throughout the present specification and the drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted with the same reference numerals to avoid any redundant description. In addition, elements that are not directly related to any embodiment of the disclosure are unillustrated in the drawings.

A description is given of a traveling control apparatusaccording to an example embodiment of the disclosure with reference to.

The following example embodiment explains an example of a traveling control apparatus in a case where a subject vehicle travels on a road where drivers keep to the left by law. Needless to say, if the traveling control apparatus is to be applied to a road where drivers keep to the right by law depending on the country or the region, left and right settings or the like may be appropriately set in an opposite manner.

[Configuration of Traveling Control Apparatus]

As illustrated in, the traveling control apparatusaccording to the example embodiment includes an obstacle detector, a first street parking determination processor, a first target lateral position determination processor, a second street parking determination processor, a second target lateral position determination processor, and a traveling control processor.

The obstacle detectormay detect whether an obstacle is present in a region that is before an intersection at which a subject vehicle MV is to turn left and is on a left-front side relative to the subject vehicle MV.

For example, the obstacle detectormay be an imaging device. For example, the obstacle detectormay perform an image analysis on image information related to a region in front of the subject vehicle MV and thereby detect whether an obstacle is present in the region that is before the intersection at which the subject vehicle MV is to turn left and is on the left-front side relative to the subject vehicle MV.

In one example, the obstacle detectormay further include a device such as a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) or a millimeter-wave radar in case of a condition such as a bad weather.

If the obstacle detectordetects an obstacle, the obstacle detectormay supply such a detection result to the first street parking determination processorwhich will be described later.

The first street parking determination processormay perform, when an obstacle is detected by the obstacle detectorin the region that is before the intersection at which the subject vehicle MV is to turn left and is on the left-front side relative to the subject vehicle MV, a determination as to whether the obstacle is another vehicle OV.

If the obstacle is the other vehicle OV, the first street parking determination processormay perform a determination as to whether the other vehicle OV is street-parked, i.e., whether the other vehicle OV is parked on a street.

For example, the first street parking determination processormay determine whether other vehicles OV1 and OV2 have a “high possibility of being street-parked”, a “possibility of being street-parked”, or a “high possibility of not being street-parked” based on pieces of information related to the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 as indices in a first street parking determination zone, as illustrated in. The pieces of information related to the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 may include dynamic behavior of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, on and off states of hazard lamps of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, on and off states of signal lights of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, directions indicated by light emission of the signal lights of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, directions of tires of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, presence of drivers of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, and behavior of the drivers of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2.

In one example, the first street parking determination processormay perform the determination by a method based on the number of satisfied conditions related to the above-described indices. In another example, the first street parking determination processormay determine whether the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 have the “high possibility of being street-parked”, the “possibility of being street-parked”, or the “high possibility of not being street-parked”, based on a comprehensive evaluation value. In obtaining the comprehensive evaluation value, an index having a great influence may be weighted more greatly. The index having a great influence may be, for example, the “presence of the driver”.

A result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processormay be supplied to the first target lateral position determination processorwhich will be described later.

When the result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processorindicates that the obstacle is the street-parked other vehicle OV, the first target lateral position determination processormay perform a determination of a first target lateral position of the subject vehicle MV at a time when the subject vehicle MV passes the other vehicle OV.

For example, when the result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processorindicates the “high possibility of being street-parked”, the first target lateral position determination processormay determine that the first target lateral position is to be a position having a small spacing to the other vehicle OV. When the result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processorindicates the “possibility of being street-parked”, the first target lateral position determination processormay determine that the first target lateral position is to be a position having a medium spacing to the other vehicle OV. When the result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processorindicates the “high possibility of not being street-parked”, the first target lateral position determination processormay determine that passing traveling is difficult.

In one example, as illustrated in, if the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 have the “high possibility of being street-parked”, the first target lateral position determination processormay determine that the first target lateral position, i.e., a spacing between the subject vehicle MV and the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 in a vehicle-width direction, is to be a small spacing.

If the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 have the “possibility of being street-parked”, the first target lateral position determination processormay determine that the first target lateral position, i.e., the spacing between the subject vehicle MV and the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 in the vehicle-width direction, is to be a medium spacing.

The matter determined by the first target lateral position determination processormay be supplied to the traveling control processorwhich will be described later.

When the result of the determination performed by the first street parking determination processorindicates the “high possibility of being street-parked” or the “possibility of being street-parked”, the first target lateral position determination processormay output information related to an on and off control of the signal light in addition to the above-described determined matter.

The second street parking determination processormay perform a determination as to whether the obstacle is the other vehicle OV, after the subject vehicle MV starts the passing traveling.

If the obstacle is the other vehicle OV, the second street parking determination processormay perform a determination as to whether the other vehicle OV is street-parked.

For example, the second street parking determination processormay determine whether the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are “confirmed to be street-parked”, or “confirmed not to be street-parked” based on pieces of information related to the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 as indices in a second street parking determination zone, as illustrated in. The pieces of information related to the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 may include the dynamic behavior of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, the on and off states of the hazard lamps of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, the on and off states of the signal lights of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, the directions indicated by the light emission of the signal lights of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, the directions of the tires of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, the presence of the drivers of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2, and the behavior of the drivers of the other vehicles OV1 and OV2.

In one example, the second street parking determination processormay perform the determination by a method based on the number of satisfied conditions related to the above-described indices. In another example, the second street parking determination processormay determine whether the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are “confirmed to be street-parked”, or “confirmed not to be street-parked”, based on a comprehensive evaluation value. In obtaining the comprehensive evaluation value, an index having a great influence may be weighted more greatly. The index having a great influence may be, for example, the “presence of the driver”.

A result of the determination performed by the second street parking determination processormay be supplied to the second target lateral position determination processorwhich will be described later.

When the result of the determination performed by the second street parking determination processorindicates that the obstacle is the street-parked other vehicle OV, the second target lateral position determination processormay make a determination of a second target lateral position of the subject vehicle MV at a time when the subject vehicle MV passes the other vehicle OV.

For example, when the result of the determination performed by the second street parking determination processorindicates that the other vehicle OV is “confirmed to be street-parked”, the second target lateral position determination processormay determine that the second target lateral position is to be a position having a small spacing to the other vehicle OV. When the result of the determination performed by the second street parking determination processorindicates that the other vehicle OV is “confirmed not to be street-parked”, the second target lateral position determination processormay determine that the passing traveling is difficult.

The matter determined by the second target lateral position determination processormay be supplied to the traveling control processorwhich will be described later.

The traveling control processormay execute a traveling control including a passing traveling control, a straight traveling control, a turn-left traveling control, and an inter-vehicle distance control (an ACC control) on the subject vehicle MV.

In addition, the traveling control processormay also execute a control of turning on the signal light in accordance with the above-described traveling control mode.

In one example, as illustrated in, for example, when the first street parking determination processordetermines that the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are vehicles having the high possibility of being street-parked, the traveling control processormay turn on a right signal light before starting a lateral movement for the passing traveling, and may perform the passing traveling control on the subject vehicle MV based on the first target lateral position. When the second street parking determination processordetermines that the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are street-parked vehicles, the traveling control processormay turn off the right signal light, and may perform the straight traveling control and the turn-left traveling control on the subject vehicle MV along the second target lateral position.

For example, when the first street parking determination processordetermines that the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are vehicles having the high possibility of being street-parked, the traveling control processormay turn on the right signal light before starting the lateral movement for the passing traveling, and may perform the passing traveling control on the subject vehicle MV based on the first target lateral position. When the second street parking determination processordetermines that the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are not street-parked vehicles, the traveling control processormay execute the inter-vehicle distance control (the ACC control).

Here, the timing before starting the lateral movement may be, for example, a timing three seconds before starting the lateral movement.

For example, the Japanese road traffic act mandates that when the subject vehicle MV is to start a lateral movement in order to change the course of the subject vehicle MV, a signal light on the side of the traffic lane which the subject vehicle MV is to enter should be turned on three or more seconds before starting the lateral movement.

In other words, the subject vehicle MV is to travel on the traffic lane on which the subject vehicle MV is currently traveling without changing its course at least for three seconds after turning on the signal light.

For example, when the first street parking determination processordetermines that the other vehicles OV1 and OV2 are vehicles having the low possibility of being street-parked, the traveling control processormay execute the inter-vehicle distance control (the ACC control).

As illustrated in, upon executing the turn-left traveling control on the subject vehicle MV, the traveling control processormay turn on a left signal lightbefore turning left at the intersection.

[Process to be Executed by Traveling Control Apparatus]

A description is given of a process to be executed by the traveling control apparatusaccording to the example embodiment, with reference to.

As illustrated in, the obstacle detectormay detect an obstacle before an intersection at which the subject vehicle MV is to turn left (step S). The obstacle detectormay supply information related to the detection of the obstacle to the first street parking determination processor.

The first street parking determination processormay determine that the obstacle detected by the obstacle detectoris another vehicle OV, and may determine whether the other vehicle OV is a street-parked vehicle (step S).

If the first street parking determination processordetermines that the other vehicle OV is a street-parked vehicle, the first street parking determination processormay supply the first target lateral position determination processorwith a notification that the other vehicle OV is a street-parked vehicle.

Upon receiving the notification that the other vehicle OV is a street-parked vehicle from the first street parking determination processor, the first target lateral position determination processormay determine that the first target lateral position is to be a position having a small spacing to the other vehicle OV (“small”) (step S).